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Everyone loves a good neighbor -- you know, the kind of person who brings over extra tomatoes from their garden or offers to keep an eye on your house while you're away. In today's transient society, where we often move far away from our parents and siblings, some neighbors even end up taking on the role of extended family, and become lifelong friends. But unfortunately for some, that's not always the case. The unlucky ones win the you've-got-to-be-kidding-me lottery and end up living next to well, neighbors from hell.

We are not talking about those who mow their grass a little too late at night or fail to keep their dog from ruining yet another patch of our well-maintained lawn. No, we mean those nasty and nutty people who take being a bad neighbor to a whole new level.

We knew they were out there, so we asked our readers to share their true stories of the most annoying neighbors they've ever had the bad fortune to live near. Here we round up our favorite dirty dozen from past years' reader submissions.

CHEESECAKE THIEVESReader JoLFloyd says:
"Being transplanted from Manhattan to Terre Haute, Ind., we still love Juniors Cheesecake and have created new addicts [by giving] annual presents of Juniors to deserving employees at Christmas. Last Christmas, the temporary FedEx driver delivered our nine cheesecakes to our next-door neighbors [by accident]. Despite our name clearly on the box, they opened [it] and ate our Christmas cheescakes! Anyone who has enjoyed Juniors (the best cheesecake in the world) can understand our outrage."

TOO COMFORTABLE IN HER OWN SKINReader nolongeraloser says:
"I used to live next door to a lady who would lay out naked in the summer. That wouldn't be so bad except for the fact that she had two small boys and also kept another couple of children. She would lay out in the afternoon completely naked and would allow the children to play outside at the same time ..."

SUPER POOPER SCOOPERReader TinyMeanGirl says:"Shortly after I moved into an apartment community a few years ago, a neighbor criticized me saying that I had failed to pick up after my dog. [So] every day when I got home from work, I would take my dog to the park across the street, assuming this would help settle the problem. But soon I started finding piles of dog poop on my doorstep every day. Big piles, my dog is only 10 lbs., mind you. Of course, I was angry about the poop on my doormat each day, so I went to the apartment manager and complained ... he told me that he already knew what the woman had been doing because she had told him."

NON-STOP MYSTERY NOISEReader Foxissenior2 says:
"I fell in love with our condo at first sight ... but when it came time to go to bed on the first night here, I heard loud voices ... It is a man's [voice] and a woman's voice, but it never stops, so I soon realized that it was either a radio or a tape recorder. It goes on and on, 24/7, and I find it irritating during the day, but I can put up with it. But when I go to bed at midnight and have to lie awake all night because of that racket, it's awful ... I spoke to the man and he denies that they are the ones responsible, but I know they are."

MEAN MUD MAKERReader Sally4949 says:
"I have a friend who has farm animals, and she is in an area zoned for that. Her neighbor (one house away) dug through her next-door neighbors' yard and put a hose through the yard to create a mud pit for her animals in her yard. Of course he got caught, but he constantly harassed everyone. They were afraid of him."

THE GRINCH, JR.Reader PASS TIME says:
"I had a house with a large bush in the front. At Christmas, I would string lights around the bush and light them up at night. One night, I came home from work and plugged in the lights. Nothing happened. I figured there was a short or something and decided to check it out in the morning. The next morning, I went out to get my paper and found my driveway covered in shattered Christmas lights. Colored glass everywhere! A neighbor told me that another neighbor's child had spent the day unscrewing my light bulbs and smashing them on the driveway."

TASTE TESTERReader Metziya says:
"Our neighbors have grown children, live alone and are completely batty. [For example,] a kid from the neighborhood was making the rounds selling candy bars for his church. It was the kind of annoying thing where you give him the money and he delivers the candy at a later date. Of course I forgot all about it. Nearly two months later, my nutty next-door neighbor rings my bell and presents me with the candy, and says that it was delivered to her by mistake. I open it and she's taken bites out of every piece! And then she gave it back to me!"

COMPUTER HACKERReader Tedi60 says:
"I am living a nightmare! The woman who lives next door is an absolute lunatic. She has now taken to breaking into my computer and changing my passwords! She hammers on our shared wall in the middle of the night. She slams her door over and over and is disturbing not only me, but the people above and below her! If I could afford to move I would."

THE SKY IS FALLINGReader PoohsZZZZ says:
"I lived in a three-story apartment on the bottom floor, and we all had a sliding glass door that opened to a little patio. The person [who lived] on the third floor would empty the cat box over the railing down to my patio where often I had clothes hung to dry."

DOGGIE NAPPERSReader Azarslc says:
"My neighbors kidnapped my pure-bred Yorkie for three days and left her in their garage. They would also steal our garbage cans and leave us with their broken one."

GREEN WITH JEALOUSYReader Thebaby456 says:
"My over-60-year-old-neighbor came to my house and accused me of sleeping with her husband. I'm 24-years-old with a 3-year-old-son. She just keeps saying all these crazy things. A couple of days ago, she bought over 20 trees and planted them along the side of my house, so I can't 'look at her husband anymore' ... the trees and labor to plant them cost over $1,500."

HEDGE TODAY, GONE TOMORROWReader Al Black56 says:
"There was a hedge (on my side) dividing our property. One day I arrived home to find the hedge had been cut down. When I asked my neighbor, she said, 'I just had my house painted. The hedge was blocking the view of my house when people drove down the street.'"